


Sleep, Dreams and Nightmares

by Tacuma



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, PTSD, Trauma, psychologist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 14:37:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1108026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tacuma/pseuds/Tacuma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark did get kidnapped and he did escape, but he never became Iron Man. Instead he is a normal billionaire with nightmares and his psychologist doesn't know how to help him anymore. The last thing he can think of are group sessions with ex-soldier Steve Rogers who is tortured by nightmares as well. But the group sessions suck, so Tony dragges Steve along, so they can find a solution for their sleeping problem together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleep, Dreams and Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> This is written for NaNoWriMo, so don't expect some master piece. I edited as much as I could, but the ending is still kind of sudden (and weird?).
> 
> I don't own anything!

'I'm sorry mister Stark, but there is nothing I can do to help you any further,' said the psychologist. 'We had more than a hundred sessions and you're not improving. You still have nightmares almost every night.'

'Then try something else!' said the billionaire angry.

'I have the feeling you don't care anymore since your girlfriend left you. You're not really trying anymore. I can't help you if you don't want me to help you.'

'So, it's my fault now?' asked Tony. 'You can't help me, but you put the blame on me, because apparently I'm a hopeless case that is drowning in self-pity and misery. Maybe you're just an incompetent asshole.'

'I'm not saying you are hopeless,' said the psychologist. 'I'm saying it has to come from within you, because I have done everything I could. There are more people like you. I have another patient that comes here every week, but he doesn't seem to care. He is indifferent, like you are, and he is not improving either.'

'So his life sucks too, boohoo, so sad, doesn't have anything to do with me.'

'You are right, it doesn't have anything to do with you. But the two of you might be able to help each other. Let's do the next session together, the three of us. It’s the last thing I can think of. Maybe it will help.'

'Like hell it will,' answered Tony. 

'We're going to give it a try anyway. I'll give you a call about the date and time,' smiled the psychologist.

'Whatever,' said the billionaire before he walked out of the door. He had no intention of coming to the weird group session, but after another two nights of not sleeping and a few more with restless sleeping he started thinking it might be worth a try. Anything that could make him sleep, because even the strongest medicine couldn't keep the dreams away.

So the next week he walked into the room where his psychologist and a blond guy were waiting for him.

'I'm glad you decided to come, Tony. Come in and sit. Steve, this is Tony Stark, Tony, this is Steve Rogers. Why don't you two get to know each other while I get you both a cup of coffee.'  
As the psychologist left the room, the two men shook each other’s hand, but then ended up in an awkward silence.

'So... eh, you have nightmares too?' asked Steve to break the silence.

Tony really didn't want to talk about it. He was ready to give a snarky answer that would shut the other man up, but then he remembered the long nights he spend awake. It had started to affect his work and he couldn’t do all the things he wanted to do. He was here with a reason and he shouldn’t blow his chances even though he thought this was fucking ridiculous.

'Yeah,' he answered. 'I didn't sleep much last night.'

He looked up at the blond and was a bit surprised at what he saw. He had thought it was a good looking, tall, strong, man. But there were dark circles under his eyes and he looked tired. He obviously hadn't slept well either for a long time.

'You look tired,' the billionaire noted.

'I am tired,' answered Steve. 'I didn't get much sleep either. I keep waking up, so sometimes I just don’t bother going to bed at all.’

‘Me neither,’ answered Tony, glad finally someone seemed to understand. Pepper had always tried to force him to come back to bed and even that damned psychologist told him to try and sleep anyway, because staying awake wouldn’t help either. But it did help. It wasn’t easy to think about those traumatic things that happened in the past, but it was better than sleeping, dreaming and reliving them, being there again, feeling the pain again. Everything was better than the place where you see people die over and over again.

‘I often get to work,’ continued the billionaire. ‘I forget about the time and before I know it it’s morning again. I spend more time in my workshop than I did ever before.’

‘One positive thing is that it did miracles for your company,’ smiled Steve. ‘You’re on top with almost everything.’

‘Yeah,’ grinned Tony. ‘I get a lot of work done this way. What do you do when everyone else is sleeping?’

‘Jogging, most of the time,’ answered Steve. ‘I stay at the gym until closing time and I jog home from there. Anything to get myself tired. You don’t want to know how many punching bags have broken down since I managed to get one in my apartment.’

‘One positive thing, it did miracles for your body,’ said Tony.

Steve laughed. ‘Thank you. At least I could stay fit. Aching muscles is something I can handle.’

Tony noticed it wasn’t just aching muscles. The man’s knuckles were raw and damaged from all the punching. It looked painful, but it was probably nothing compared to the pain he felt when he dreamed.

The psychologist came back into the room with three cups of coffee. He handed both men one before he sat down.

‘Finally!’ said Tony. ‘You took so long that I thought you went to get us some real coffee, not the crap from the machine around the corner.’

The psychologist didn’t answer and just moved on with the session. 

‘So, have you two talked about something? Have you introduced yourselves?’

‘Yes,’ answered Tony. ‘He told me that if it’s possible he doesn’t sleep either, because he doesn’t want to have nightmares. Isn’t that exactly my problem? How are we supposed to help each other if neither of us has a solution? Give each other tips on how to stay awake? What drugs we could use to hop through the night, what energy drinks will get us through the day or what coffee keeps you awake for ages?’

‘You’re focusing on the negative things,’ answered the psychologist patiently, ignoring Tony’s remark about coffee never being a negative thing. ‘We should talk about the positive things instead. Things that calm you down, things that you think have lessened the dreams for you. Steve, what do you do to calm down before going to bed?’

‘Nothing,’ answered Steve.

Tony started laughing, but the glare from the doctor in front of him reduced it to chuckling.

‘I don’t try to calm down before going to bed,’ explained Steve. ‘I get myself worked up, make the adrenaline run through my body. It’s the easiest way to stay awake for me.’

‘But we’re trying to make the two of you sleep again,’ answered the psychologist. ‘What did you use to do before the dreams?’

‘I was in the army!’ sighed Steve. ‘I was fighting, running around, carrying heavy things. When I had finally time to sleep I didn’t have any trouble doing so. I could sleep on the cold, hard floor if I had to.’

‘And when you just got home, back from the war?’

‘Shall I skip the part where I didn’t have a home to return to and the tranquilizers in the hospital? Because those helped me sleep just fine. But I had to stop taking them once I could leave. I tried everything, herbal teas, warm milk, even hot baths and I don’t even have a bath tub! It didn’t matter. None of it worked. I had nightmares, no matter how calm I was before I went to sleep.’

‘Those tranquilizers sound good to me,’ answered Tony. ‘Maybe we should get some. Until we look less like zombies. I vaguely remember getting them as well. Don’t really remember if I had already had nightmares when I was in the hospital though. They might have come afterwards as well, when I got home again and I had to start with daily life again. The only thing that helped was working. Keeping my mind busy with something else.’

‘You two are really not helping yourself,’ said the psychologist with a sigh. He rubbed his forehead in frustration. ‘There should be something, anything, that helped either of you to sleep. Two know more than one, so just try to think about a time you did get some proper sleep.’

‘I’m not doing this!’ said Tony a bit angry. ‘Get us someone who did get over it and who does sleep again. We should get examples of things that do work, because obviously we can’t figure them out on our own.’

‘Alright. Go home. Think about it this week. I want to see the two of you again next week, same time and I want you to think about things that might make you sleep. Ask other people what they do to fall asleep. I want you to both bring a list next time. Maybe you can already try a few things on the list and share with us what helped and what not.’

Tony rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. This was useless. He knew it was useless. He had tried hundreds of things. He started with reading, relaxing exercises and different breathing techniques. Pepper had made him do it, anything to get him to sleep, before she walked out on him.

 

~

 

The next week Tony did show up again at the session. He didn’t really want to, but he was curious if Steve might have found out something. He even brought a list. He had asked his driver and his best friend Rhodey what they did to fall asleep and he came up with a few things himself as well. With hardly any sleep he had enough time to think about it anyway.

When he arrived he found Steve already waiting next to their therapy room. Tony greeted him and sat down next to him. The blond man didn’t look any better than he had done last week, so Tony assumed he hadn’t found a way to fall asleep either. For a few minutes the billionaire wondered if he had to keep living like this forever, but then the psychologist called them in.

‘So, I hope you two made your lists,’ he said after they sat down. ‘Steve, do you want to start.’

‘Sure,’ answered Steve and he got a piece of paper from his pocket. ‘Someone said aromatherapy might help and she even gave me candles and oils and everything, but that didn’t really work. I tried it twice, but both nights I got dreams again. Another person told me she did pilates before going to bed, but I didn’t know what that was or how it worked, so I couldn’t try. She also told me meditating might work, but I tried that before and that never really helped me either. Other things people told me were sleeping masks and music, but those never worked before, I didn’t try them again.’

‘Okay,’ said the psychologist. ‘A shame nothing helped and maybe you should try to come up with something yourself for next week. But maybe Tony has an idea. Tony, what is on your list?’

‘Hypnosis,’ answered Tony. ‘I actually tried it, but hypnosis is bullshit. Someone suggested yoga. Guess it doesn’t matter if it’s yoga or pilates, but I don’t have the temper for that things. I even kicked all electronics from my room for a night, but that didn’t help anything either.’

‘Did you think of something that could make you fall asleep yourself?’

‘I don’t know,’ sighed Tony. ‘I do know it was easier to sleep when I wasn’t alone.’

‘I guess that makes sense,’ answered Steve. ‘Falling asleep is scary when you know you will get nightmare again, no matter what you do. But if there is someone to wake you up when you start dreaming or to talk to you when you wake up it might be easier to deal with and less scary to go to bed in the first place.’

'Well, maybe you should try that then,' said the psychologist. 'You should both ask one of your friends to stay with you for a night. Let them wake you up when you start dreaming. Maybe it works and maybe they won't mind doing it more often then.'

Tony snorted. ‘Did you forget everything I told you in the past year? My girlfriend walked out on me because of these nightmares. The only person I would trust with something like this is overseas! Who knows when he will be back! This is not something you do to your friends!'

'This is not something you ask just anyone to do,' added Steve. 'You have to trust that person. That person has to understand how it works and how you feel. I have no one who could do that for me. There is no one I trust enough.'

'Still, you two should try.'

'Everyone I trust is dead!' said Steve angry.

'Okay I'm done,' said Tony. 'I'm leaving. I'm fucking done with this. Still you try to force us to do things we're not comfortable with. Steve, let's get the hell out of here. Let's grab some real coffee. My treat.'

Steve got up and followed Tony out of the room. The psychologist tried to stop them, but they just kept walking. The billionaire took his new friend to a small coffee place where people wouldn't bother them and ordered coffee for the two of them.

'That guy is seriously useless,' sighed Tony as he sat down at the table where Steve was waiting.

'In a way he is right, it would be better if we had someone to keep us company at night,' answered the blond. 'But it would be nice if he tried to understand that this isn't as easy as it sounds.'

'Did you really lose all your friends?' asked Tony.

'Not all,' answered Steve. 'I made some new friends as well, but the ones I trusted are gone.'

'In the war?' Tony asked.

'Yeah,' answered Steve. 'I was a Captain, one of the youngest ones ever. Not because I was very good, but my team was the best. We often got important missions and we managed to help a lot of people.'

'I read about you,' said the billionaire. 'They called it a dream team and you were compared to Captain America.'

Steve laughed. 'I wish I was that strong and smart. Real life is a whole lot different. It wasn't bad, I liked the work and the feeling I could make a difference. But on our last mission on of our helicopters was hit. It wasn't too bad, but the pilot couldn't control it anymore. They crashed into the other helicopter. We were lucky it happened above a lake. Some people jumped, they got out without too many injuries. But a few couldn't get out and went down. One crashed in the water, the other on land. I got injured when I tried to help the people out of the helicopter in the water.'

'That's terrible,' said Tony softly.

'It got worse when the one that crashed on land exploded,' continued the soldier. 'People got hit by parts that were flying around. The helicopter in the water sunk and people got trapped. Half of the team died that day and at least half of the ones that managed to escape were badly injured. After everything we had been through something stupid like this tore us apart. Blood, dead bodies, limbs, fire, pieces of the helicopters, everything was scattered over the place. It was a nightmare and it still is, almost every night.’

‘Sounds like hell,’ answered Tony. ‘Just one fucking hit and so many people died. Your friends were part of your team?’

‘Most of my team mates were my friends,’ sighed Steve. ‘But my best friend and my boyfriend where there as well. He died in the crash, I managed to save her, but she died later in the hospital. They wouldn’t let me out of the hospital to go to their funerals. They said it was too dangerous to fly me back home yet. I told them it was my boyfriend that would be buried, but instead of feeling sorry, they were disgusted by our relationship.’

There were tears in his eyes, but he blinked a few times to make sure they wouldn’t fall. Tony reached over the table and put his hand over Steve’s. He patted it awkwardly, not really knowing what to do in situations like this, but the soldier smiled at him. 

‘It’s been almost two years,’ he said. ‘But with these dreams it doesn’t get any easier. It feels like it was yesterday. But the same probably goes for you. It’s been a few years since you got kidnapped, right? But you’re still there at night.’

‘Yeah,’ answered Tony. ‘I don’t know what you read about it in the papers, but they all acted like it was nothing, or that I deserved it.’

‘I hardly read anything, I was abroad,’ said Steve. ‘But I know newspapers either make small things sound terrible, or terrible things sound small.’

‘When I got back home they all seemed to forget that I had been gone for about three months,’ said Tony. ‘I lived in a cave for three fucking months before I managed to escape. I suffered horrible injuries and I would have died if Yinsen hadn’t been there. He treated my injuries with the little things he had and took care of me all the time I was unconscious. Terrorists wanted to get rid of me, they thought I’d die anyway, but he told them I was going to be alright and that I would be able to help them.’

‘Help them with what?’ asked Steve.

‘Help them making weapons,’ answered Tony. ‘To fight the US army. When I got up on my feet again they threatened me and told me to make them the weapons they wanted. Yinsen helped me in every way he could. We made things that looked like weapons, but that would backfire. I also made things that looked like jetpacks. The day they found out the weapons were fake we tried to escape with the jetpacks, but Yinsen was killed before we could make it out of the cave. I did manage to get out alive and could go back home, but back home my right hand guy tried to kill me. He had been the one to get me in terrorist hands in the first place. He paid them to kill me.’

‘Did you still feel safe in your own house?’ 

‘Funny you ask, nobody else ever asked me that,’ said Tony as he shook his head.

‘Because I’d be scared,’ answered Steve. ‘I’d keep looking over my shoulder to see if there was nobody there. I still have it when I hear anything that sounds like gunshots and when I heard a car crash a few weeks ago I froze up completely.’

‘I kept looking over my shoulder,’ confessed Tony. ‘I got new security for my house and only people with access codes could enter my workshop, which is just me at the moment. The walls are all made of glass, so I can see people coming and my AI warns me as well. I have security cameras everywhere, so I can watch every single corner of the house if I want to.’

‘I can imagine, I would have done the same,’ agreed Steve. ‘Have you tried sleeping in your workshop? You made it a safe place.’

‘I fall asleep there more often than I want to,’ grinned Tony. ‘When I’m working I’m always in the workshop, so sometimes I just fall asleep on my workbench. I have a couch there and I sleep on it now and then, but I can’t say I really noticed any differences.’

‘Do you...’ Steve didn’t really know how to ask.

‘Come on, just ask,’ said Tony. ‘You already know some of my darkest secrets. I mean, I would never tell anybody else on this earth that I tried hypnosis to fall asleep! So you better keep shut about that.’

Steve smiled. ‘I won’t tell a soul,’ he promised. ‘But I wondered if you have problems with letting people sleeping next to you.’

‘I don’t think so,’ answered Tony. ‘If I know them well I don’t have a problem with it. My ex was a long-time friend, I had no problems with her, but I guess I have some trust issues with other people. Why do you ask?’

‘I thought, maybe we can help each other out,’ said Steve, keeping his eyes at his cup of coffee on the table. ‘We both know what it is like and we could wake each other if we have nightmares. But it’s a stupid idea, I’m sorry for suggesting it.’

‘Why is it a stupid idea?’ asked the billionaire.

‘Because I’m gay and men are always taking their distance when they find out. I should be glad you didn’t back away the moment I told you about my boyfriend. Suggesting to share a room is the most stupid thing to do.’

‘I really couldn’t care less,’ said Tony, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms. ‘I’m bisexual, I had men in my bed before, I can handle it. Maybe we should give it a try. We tried everything else already, it’s worth a shot.’

‘I don’t really have space in my bedroom though,’ answered the soldier. ‘I live in a tiny apartment.’

‘I live in a building with like sixty floors, I’m sure we can find a place for you in the bedroom,’ laughed Tony. ‘I even have a gym if you can’t fall asleep. So, do you have work or anything. If not we could go and pick up your stuff and move to my place. You can get used to it, might make it easier to fall asleep tonight.’

‘I don’t have a job,’ said Steve. ‘It’s hard to get a job or to keep a job if you don’t sleep. Nobody will hire me. I draw a lot, so now and then I can sell some of my drawings and earn some money that way.’

‘Let’s get going then!’

They drove to Steve’s apartment in Tony’s expensive sports car. Steve felt a bit embarrassed when they arrived in the street he lived in Brooklyn. Most people knew him here and a lot of them were gaping as they saw him coming out of the amazing car. Tony didn’t seemed to be bothered. He simply parked the vehicle and followed Steve inside, ignoring all the stares.

‘Pretty small indeed,’ noted the billionaire as he looked around the little place. ‘But cozy.’

‘It has all I need,’ answered Steve. ‘With my mother I lived in a pretty small place too and the army isn’t any better when it comes to having your own space.’

‘Guess not,’ answered Tony as he waited for Steve to grab some pyjamas and a toothbrush. The blond quickly took everything he could need. His sports clothes, clean clothes for tomorrow and the few things he used in the bathroom to get ready in the morning. 

‘Got it,’ he said. 

He found Tony watching the pictures in his living room. It were pictures of his family and his friends. Pictures of himself in uniform, pictures from when he got promoted to captain and a picture of him and his boyfriend that died.

‘You like to torture yourself,’ was all Tony said before he walked out of the house. Steve simply followed and they got in the car again. They drove to Manhattan, to Stark Tower. The gates opened automatically when they arrived and they disappeared in an underground garage. There were more cars down there. There was also an elevator. They got in and Tony pushed a button.

‘Welcome home, sir,’ said a voice. Steve looked surprised.

‘That’s the AI I was talking about,’ grinned Tony. ‘Sorry if it scared you. He is like a robot that lives in the walls and the ceilings. He is connected to all the cameras in the house, so he sees everything. He is also connected to a whole network of computers and the internet, so if you want to know anything you can just ask. He is everywhere. His name is J.A.R.V.I.S. by the way.’

‘That is why you asked me to come early,’ said Steve. ‘To let me get used to him.’

‘Yes,’ answered Tony. ‘J.A.R.V.I.S. protects me. I feel safe with him around, but a lot of people don’t understand how it works and get freaked out because of it. There are cameras everywhere, shops, streets, offices, but when the computer starts talking to them they suddenly feel like they’re being watched. J.A.R.V.I.S., this is Steve Rogers, he is our guest today and he is going to help me sleep. Hopefully.’

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, mister Rogers,’ answered the AI.

‘Nice to meet you to,’ said Steve, not sure where to look.

The doors dinged open and Tony entered the room. ‘This is the living room, with a bar, of course,’ he explained.

Steve’s mouth fell open. The living room was probably bigger than his entire apartment. Everything looked super neat and there was expensive furniture, everything was perfectly balanced. It looked like a house in a magazine.

‘Yeah, told you it would be a bit bigger here, didn’t I?’ asked Tony. ‘But don’t worry, I often use the living room upstairs. It’s the same floor as the bedroom, so let’s just go there already. I use this when a lot of people come over or when I gotta do an interview or something else impersonal.’

They took the stairs and went to the next floor. There were a few couches and a big television. A few bookshelves filled with all kinds of books stood against the walls. But there were still no pictures or anything else to make it more personal. There was a kitchen with a table big enough for six people. Tony showed him everything before he finally took him to the bedroom. It was big. The bed was enormous and the room was so big that at least three of those beds fitted in there.

‘I won’t have a problem finding a place to sleep here,’ smiled Steve. ‘Plenty of space.’

‘Yup, more than enough,’ answered Tony. ‘Through here is the bathroom.’

Steve dropped his things in the bedroom, checked out the amazing bathroom before they went back into the bedroom again. They just stood there, didn’t really know what to say to each other and Steve didn’t know where to look.

‘How are we going to do this?’ he asked.

‘I have a few guest rooms,’ answered Tony. ‘I could call a few guys to bring one of the beds to this room.’

‘Just for one night?’ asked the soldier. ‘That is a lot of trouble. I could drag one of the matrasses over here, that’s a lot easier. And I don’t really want anyone else to know.’

‘These guys know how to keep their mouths shut,’ said Tony as he took off his tie and jacket. He unbuttoned the top of his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. ‘But I guess we can do it together.’

They went to one of the upstairs guest rooms and pulled the mattress from the bed. The turned it on its side and carried it down the stairs. It didn't fit in the elevator, Tony didn't like small beds. They placed the thing close to the bed in the main bedroom and then went to get the blankets and pillows. It was almost like they were going to have a fun sleepover.

'Do you think we can hear if the other is having a nightmare?' asked Steve as he looked at the distance between the two sleeping places.

'I have something for that,' answered Tony. 'I made some sort of bracelets. Once your heart speeds up they start vibrating to wake you up. I tried them, but somehow the vibrating made the nightmares worse. I didn't wake up. But I can change them, so mine will start vibrating if your heart speeds up and the other way around.'

'How does it work?' Steve asked with a frown.

'J.A.R.V.I.S. will be in control of them,' answered Tony. 'If we don't wake up by the vibrations he will wake us up with sounds, so we can still help the other.' 

'Why did you never let J.A.R.V.I.S. wake you up?' asked the soldier. 'He could do my job, right?'

'You will probably have to shake me to wake me up,' said Tony. His voice doesn’t always wake me up and touching is not something J.A.R.V.I.S. can do. I tried with robots and everything, but that wasn’t really comfortable. The blaring alarms weren’t the best idea either.’

Steve chuckled. ‘Doesn’t sound very comfortable indeed. So we’ll be using the bracelet things?’

‘Yeah, they are in my workshop, I’ll show them to you.’ Tony walked to the elevator, but Steve didn’t follow. ‘You coming?’

‘Are you sure you want me to come to your workshop?’ asked Steve. ‘A stranger in your safe place?’

‘Your home is your safe place, isn’t it?’ asked the billionaire. ‘You let me in there as well. You showed you trusted me and I trust you. We have to if we want to make this work. You told me your story, you almost cried. If you faked that you’re the best actor in the world and I don’t believe I annoyed that stupid psychologist enough to send some hit man after me.’

‘You’ve got a point,’ answered Steve and he followed Tony into the elevator and they moved to the top floors. Steve had a lot of surprises already, but the workshop was another one. Not only was it incredibly big, but there were all kinds of machines everywhere. There were a few robots moving around on their own, trying to clean up the place and lights were flickering all over the place. Computers were running here day and night.

‘This is amazing!’ he said as he looked around. ‘Like you walk into the future. Did you make all of this yourself?’

‘Yeah, I made everything throughout the years,’ smiled Tony as he looked around. ‘I never throw anything away. Sometimes I take it apart and build something new, or sometimes things explode, but I never sent anything out with the trash.’

He walked to his work bench and put some things aside. He searched for the bracelets and after a few minutes he found them. He grabbed a screw driver and started working on them to make sure they would start vibrating when the other one was triggered. It didn’t take him long to make the changes. He typed a few things into his computer, he instructed J.A.R.V.I.S. what to do when the bracelets would start vibrating and then he went to search for Steve.

The blond stood in front of one the robots and the robot was looking back at the soldier. It didn’t really have eyes, but with his sensors he knew someone was there and it knew it was not Tony. The robot was whirring and sort of patted Steve’s arm. Steve wasn’t freaked out, but simply smiled.

‘He likes you,’ grinned Tony. ‘His name is Dummy. I made him years ago. I think I was about seventeen. He does a lot of stupid things, but he is useful, that is why he is still around. Threatened to give him away at least a hundred times, but he does his work.’

‘He is your friend,’ smiled Steve.

‘Well, as far as a robot can be your friend, yes I guess.’

‘He is amazing. You are amazing for being able to make something like this.’

‘Thank you,’ answered Tony. ‘I have the bracelets. Maybe we should try them before we actually go to bed. Sometimes things go wrong and I don’t want to take any risks.’

‘They’re not going to explode, are they?’ asked Steve as he watched how the genius put one of the bracelets around his wrist. It fitted well, not too tight, and it looked beautiful. The surface was the colour of metal, but it was smooth and shiny and not cold at all. It looked like an actual bracelet and not like an alarm clock.

‘They’re not going to explode,’ laughed Tony. ‘They might not look like it, but they’re just computers. When I made them I hoped my girlfriend would wear them, so she could help me and I knew she wasn’t going to wear them unless they looked like actual jewellery, so I’m sorry for the design. I just want to make sure they work, so we won’t be stuck in our dreams tonight. Then the whole thing will be for nothing.’

‘They’re beautiful,’ said Steve. ‘A piece of art. But how do we test them? Should I run around a little and see if yours will start vibrating when my heartbeat will go faster?’

‘I think I should run around,’ answered Tony. ‘You are super fit, who knows how long it will take to get your heart speed up. I’m on the other hand, am completely out of shape. Half an minute and I’m out of breath.’

‘I thought you said you had a gym?’

‘I do, but that doesn’t mean I actually use it.’

Steve laughed. ‘Okay, you run and I’ll see what happens to this thing.’

Tony started running around a little, making sure he wouldn’t run into one of the robots and being careful he wouldn’t trip over the stuff that was lying around everywhere. Soon his heart was beating faster and faster. Steve could feel it. The thing around his arm was vibrating pretty fast. It was almost like someone was shaking his arm to get his attention. He was worried he wouldn’t wake up if the bracelet’s would be too subtle, but this would work.

‘It’s vibrating,’ he told Tony and the genius stopped running and came to see how it was working.

‘Great, they work!’ he said as he started taking them off again. ‘I’ll leave them in the bedroom for tonight. Let’s go to the gym for now. You might have inspired me to work out.’

They changed into their sports clothes and headed to the gym. Steve was surprised about the muscles in Tony’s arms. He said he never worked out, but he had strong arms. It was probably because he was working with all kinds of heavy equipment in his workshop. Steve was also surprised by the gym. It had everything he could have asked for and more. He immediately started warming up and used some of the machines. Tony’s eyes widened when he noticed how much weight the other man could lift.

‘You could pick me up and carry me around under your arm,’ he said as he pointed at the weights of the machine. ‘That is insane.’

‘You have to be fit in the army,’ answered Steve. ‘So I’m used to it. It only got worse when I had to leave the army. Too much time on my hands.’

‘You’re not even sweating,’ sighed Tony dramatically. ‘Life is not fair!’

Steve laughed. ‘Maybe if you start doing something you’ll get used to it too and one day it will be easy for you too.’

The genius sighed again, but walked up to a machine and started working out. He kept talking to Steve about the things he made, about the things the media thought about it and a lot of other things. He just couldn’t keep shut. The soldier listened, answered when he had to. He wasn’t used to having company, let alone someone chatting to him the entire time. It was almost like it used to be, when he always had his team around and there was always someone talking.

Steve got up and walked to the punching bag. He checked to make sure it was strong and wouldn’t break down after a few punches. He wanted to start hitting the bag when the man on the other side of the room called him.

‘Should you really be doing that?’ asked Tony. He walked closer and pointed at Steve’s damaged knuckles. ‘Maybe you should try to give it a rest and let it heal. If tonight is not working and we can’t sleep you will have plenty of nights left to hit punching bags with your bare hands.’

Steve looked at his hand. Tony was right, he should stop and let it heal. He normally healed pretty quickly, but since he never stopped going crazy on the punching bags his hands never got the chance to heal. Instead the two of them went back upstairs, showered and got themselves dressed. They were about done when J.A.R.V.I.S. called them and said dinner was ready.

‘Who makes dinner?’ asked Steve.

‘A cook,’ answered Tony. ‘I hardly have time to cook or to do anything else. And I can’t cook. I blew up a kitchen. Had to replace a lot of things, so I’m not trying again.’

‘Liar, you have all the time in the world. You treated your kitchen like your workshop,’ smiled Steve. ‘Kitchens aren’t made for explosions.’

‘I know now!’

They sat down at the kitchen table where two plates of food were waiting for them. They dug in. It was delicious, of course, what else to expect from a professional cook. Tony was blabbering about said cook and all the other people that worked for him. He chatted about his company and all the places he had to go for his work. Steve liked to listen to him, he had so many stories to tell. He had been everywhere and he had seen everything. Even when Tony asked about it, Steve couldn’t tell him much stories in return. He had been sick a lot as a kid, so sometimes he didn’t leave the house for weeks. When he grew up things got better, but the moment he turned eighteen he joined the army. He didn’t want to talk about the army, so there wasn’t much left to tell. Tony didn’t seemed to care. He was interested in the things Steve had to tell and listened to everything he had to say.

When they were done eating they put all the dishes in the dishwasher and went back to the living room with a cup of coffee. They talked a little, watched the news and sipped their drinks. Tony let Steve pick a movie and went to get a bowl of popcorn. They watched an action movie with a lot of humour and when it was over it was about time to go to bed. Both of them were tired, it had been a long day.

They went to the bedroom, brushed their teeth and changed into their pyjamas. Tony put on the bracelets on the two of them and they both went to their own bed. They looked at each other before they lay down and smiled embarrassed at each other.

‘Good luck,’ said Tony.

‘You too,’ answered Steve. And they both lay down and waited until the nightmares would come to get them.

 

~

 

Steve was always sleeping lightly, waking up every time again, seeing every hour on the clock. It what he was used to. He always made himself wake up, but now he tried his best to relax and just sleep. He heard Tony’s even breathing. At least the other man was asleep, this wouldn’t be completely useless then. He was scolding himself for being such an idiot, not sleeping now that he finally had the chance, but then his eyes fell shut and he was asleep.

He slept for a few hours without any problems, until something weird woke him up. He opened his eyes, wondered where he was for a few moment, but then he felt the bracelet vibrating heavily against his skin. He jumped up and in two steps he reached the bed. Tony was sweating and breathing heavily. Steve grabbed his arms and shook him.

‘Tony, wake up,’ he said. ‘Tony, it’s a dream. It’s just a nightmare. You’re not in the cave. You’re in Stark Tower and you’re safe. Please wake up, Tony.’

The billionaire’s eyes snapped open. For a moment he looked around confused, but then he seemed to recognize the other man and he sighed heavily.

‘Thank you,’ he whispered.

‘No problem,’ answered Steve. ‘Do you need anything? Some water maybe? I’ll get you some water.’

The blond walked to the bathroom, filled a glass with water and returned to Tony who was now rubbing his eyes. He took the glass from Steve and took a few sips before putting it on the nightstand.

‘Just in time. Nobody died yet. Let’s go back to sleep.’

Steve nodded and crawled back in his improvised bed. His heart was beating pretty quickly, so he hoped Tony couldn’t feel that in his bracelet. He did some breathing exercises to calm down and before he knew it he was sleeping again. The rest of the night was quiet and without incidents. But the morning came and their sleep became restless. Steve was moving a lot in his sleep, mumbling things and asking for help.

Tony woke up because of the talking. He checked the clock, it was about eight in the morning and the sunlight was trying to find a way through the curtains. He sat up to look at the soldier and noticed he was restless. His bracelet was vibrating gently, but it was enough for Tony to decide he would wake the other man up.

He kneeled down next to the matrass and called his name. Steve heard it, but it sounded far, very far away. Tony started shaking him a little, calling his name louder and that did it, Steve opened his eyes.

‘Are you alright?’ asked Tony.

‘I was drowning,’ answered Steve as he sat up. ‘Drowning in a country that is dry as a dessert.’

‘The irony,’ sighed Tony as he sat down as well. ‘I think we should talk about what happened. Not the story that we tell everyone else, but the one with all the gory details. The version that only the press wants to hear.’

Steve nodded. He recognized the ask for help, but it was also something he wanted himself. ‘We should,’ he answered. ‘Psychologist always tells me it’s good to talk about it, but there is never anyone around who cares to listen.’

‘Or there are only people you don’t want to burden with it,’ answered Tony. ‘But I can’t do it today. I have work to do that I really can’t skip. Maybe we could do it Saturday? We just take the entire day if we want to.’

‘Sure, I have nothing to do anyway,’ answered Steve. ‘But what do we do about the nights in between?’

‘Did it work for you?’ asked Tony.

‘I guess it did,’ answered Steve. ‘I slept more than I do most nights and you were pretty quick with waking me once I started dreaming. I had some trouble falling asleep, but that probably won’t change for a while. I’m still a bit scared of sleeping.’

‘Then come over tonight again?’ asked Tony. ‘It helped for me. I slept a lot better after you woke me up. Like my brain finally understood it was safe.’

‘I’ll come over tonight then,’ agreed Steve. ‘About eight-thirty or something?

‘Sounds perfect.’

They both got up and got ready for the day. They were still tired, but there was hope and both hoped this last thing could help them.

 

~

 

For another two nights they slept in the same room. The first night went well, but the second night was pretty bad for Steve. They had seen a warzone on television, on the news. A soldier had died and they were showing how they were shooting and hiding. There was a huge explosion and Steve turned away from the screen. That night Tony had to get out of bed four times. He didn’t sleep much himself because of it, but he didn’t mind. It was better to be awake and to help Steve than to sleep himself and let the other suffer.

They got out of bed early that morning and the soldier apologized, but Tony waved it away. He knew things like this could happen and told Steve to be prepared, because one night he might be the one to wake Tony a few times. They had a lazy morning with a huge breakfast before they settled in the living room. It was Saturday and they had decided they would talk today, but sitting in front of each other it wasn’t that easy. After about half an hour of silence Steve started talking about his time in the army and slowly he reached the moment of his nightmares.

They told everything, neither of them hiding anything. Not only the things that happened, but also the reactions of people afterwards, who didn’t seem to understand. Somewhere in the afternoon Tony got up and grabbed a bottle of scotch. He normally didn’t drink, not anymore, but he decided they deserved it, both of them. Steve gladly took the glass from his and took a sip. The liquid burned, but it felt good. It made it easier to continue their stories and now and then they could even laugh about the stupid things people had once told them.

‘Sir, miss Potts arrived, she is on her way upstairs,’ said J.A.R.V.I.S. suddenly.

Tony frowned and got up. ‘Why is she here, J?’

‘I don’t know, sir, I didn’t ask and she didn’t tell. Do you want me to ask?’ asked the AI.

‘I’ll go and tell her now is not a good time,’ answered Tony. ‘I’m sorry Steve, I’ll be right back.’ He put down his glass and walked down the stairs to the big living room. At that moment the elevator doors opened and his ex-girlfriend stepped out.

‘Tony, why weren’t you at the meeting today?’ she asked.

‘Pepper, I told you I had important things to do and that I couldn’t make it. I told you last Thursday,’ answered the billionaire. ‘It wasn’t an important meeting anyway and I’m sure you handled it perfectly fine on your own.’

‘Of course I did,’ answered the strawberry blond lady. ‘I had to, because you weren’t there. Now what is so important that you couldn’t come? You have been drinking, I can smell it. Have you started drinking again Tony?’

Tony shook his head and sighed. ‘No I haven’t, but I’m busy, could you please just leave and come back tomorrow or something. I’m really not in the mood for this now.’

‘You’re….’ started Pepper angry. ‘You obviously haven’t gotten out of the house, because you look terrible. What is so important?’

‘I’m sorry madam, but he asked you to leave,’ said Steve who stood on the stairs. ‘Could you please go? We were busy.’

‘Don’t tell me you’re bringing people home again as well,’ asked Pepper frustrated. ‘Really Tony, do you really want to go back to that time? Why are you doing this to yourself? You know this isn’t going to get you anywhere.’

Steve walked further down the stairs and approached the two. He stopped when he stood next to Tony.

‘I don’t know what you think, but I’m here to help him,’ said Steve. ‘We’re trying to get him to sleep normally, because he was so tired that he could hardly stand on his feet. I don’t know what kind of meeting is more important than his health. Now if you will excuse us, we would like to continue.’

Pepper was speechless and that was something that didn’t happen often. Tony started laughing and couldn’t stop for a few minutes. The two others were staring at him, wondering what was so funny.

‘All this time I wondered how a gentle guy like you could be a captain in the army, but now your captain is shining through, Steve,’ he laughed. ‘I like it. You were able to make Pepper shut up. I never managed that. Pepper, this is Steve, he is helping me sleep. Steve, this is Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries and my ex-girlfriend.’

‘Oh,’ said Steve and he smiled shyly. The captain seemed to be gone again. ‘I’m sorry, Steve Rogers, nice to meet you.’

Pepper shook his hand, but still didn’t seemed to be too happy with the blond man.

‘He is right though,’ said Tony. ‘We were having a traumatized boys party upstairs, so you can’t stay, Pep. These are things we don’t want to trouble other people with. We’ve decided to tell each other our entire story, including all the details we never wanted to tell anyone else.’

‘Why don’t you trust me with those things, Tony?’ she asked. ‘Why did you never talk to me? Or to Rhodey, he is in the army, he knows what kind of terrible things happen in the world. You could have talked to us a long time again. You know I hate to see you suffer, Tony.’

‘No, I’m not going to discuss this right now,’ said Tony. ‘Rhodey is always gone and you could hardly handle the few things I told you.’

‘I can handle it,’ said Pepper.

‘Alright, let’s see. Steve here jumped out of a helicopter that was about to crash. He survived, but almost drowned saving his best friend, who died the next day anyway. His boyfriend was blown up when the helicopter exploded. He got hurt when pieces of the helicopter were flying around. It was so bad that he couldn’t go home to be at their funerals.’

There were tears in Peppers eyes. She tried to blink them away, but one rolled down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away. ‘I’m really sorry to hear that,’ she said.

‘You’re already crying when I tell you when I tell you the short version,’ said Tony as he put his hand on her shoulder. ‘I don’t want to burden you with the details. The details that are in my story too. So Pep, just go please. I’ll be back on Monday, promise.’

Alright,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry I disturbed you.’

The two men watched her leave before they looked at each other. ‘You can’t blame her,’ said Steve. ‘Who could handle such things? All we have done until now is survive.’

‘I don’t blame her,’ said Tony. ‘I’m glad she is gone. She has found herself a better guy and I’m glad about that. She can live a normal life now. Come on, let’s get back. I can use another drink.’

They went back to the living room upstairs, but it was difficult to get back in the mood again. For a long time neither of them said anything, both thinking about the people that had been burdened with their tragic past. After a while they started talking again and they let all their frustrations out. Everything they had bottled up for all those years finally came out and it felt good. By the time J.A.R.V.IS. called dinner was ready they were exhausted.

‘We really should do something more happy tonight,’ said Steve. ‘If I go to bed feeling like this I won’t sleep at all.’

‘Let’s watch some really stupid movies,’ agreed Tony. ‘Let’s get distracted. I really want to get drunk, but I know the nightmares are worse when I drink too much.’

They had dinner and tried to distract themselves with other things. They tried to talk about happy things. Tony told about Pepper and Rhodey and how long they had known them and what silly things they had done together in the past. Steve told about how he and Bucky explored their neighbourhood when they were teenagers and how they always got in trouble. But Bucky always talked his way out of things and if talking didn’t work, his fists worked pretty fine as well. He used to be tiny, so he couldn’t help his friend much, but they still had fun.

Then suddenly Steve was crying. Tears were running down his cheeks and he couldn’t stop them, so instead he hid his face in his arms. All the happy things in his life had ended in that crash. Tony quickly stood up and sat down next to his new friend. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders, but didn’t really know what else to do. Should he talk? Should he shut up? But he was Tony Stark, he couldn’t shut up, so he hoped talking was the right choice.

‘That Bucky,’ he started. ‘Was he your boyfriend?’

Steve sat up again and nodded. ‘We were friends for a long time already before we both joined the army. I had some trouble getting in, so we ended up in different groups. It took a few years before we got in the same team and we hadn’t seen each other in a quite some time. He had become more of a man. He had seen things, he was more serious and it made him more attractive than he had ever been before.’

‘I saw the picture at your house. He wasn’t bad looking at all. And he had a great choice in men,’ joked Tony, trying desperately to cheer Steve up again. It worked, the soldier laughed.

‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I was really surprised he was interested in me. He was always chasing the ladies. He even tried to flirt with my best friend Peggy, but she wasn’t interested in him at all. It was fun to see how he was following her and she was rolling her eyes and wishing he would just leave her alone. He knew she wasn’t interested, but he just liked to tease. And then one night we were sitting outside together and he told me he liked me. I’ve never been more surprised.’

‘Well, you’re hot,’ said Tony. ‘I’m sure you could make the straightest guys doubt their sexuality. Probably even more when you’re in the army and you’re showering together and everything. You probably gave a lot of those guys some very nice dreams.’

Steve snorted and used his elbow to gently hit Tony’s side. ‘Don’t tease me.’

‘I’m not!’ said Tony, acting like he was very serious. ‘They were probably all drooling when you would take your shirt of and they were fighting to get the shower next to yours, so they’d have the best look at your ass. They’d have to get a cold shower, or everyone would know about their secret little crushes. I bet they all wanted to be in your team!’

Steve laughed. ‘I wanted to say that I would have known if that happened, but I didn’t know Bucky liked me either. And Bucky was pretty protective, especially during shower time.’

‘See!’ grinned Tony. ‘You could have had a male harem if you wanted to. I would have been jealous.’

‘You had a fair share of beautiful people,’ said Steve. ‘No need for you to be jealous.’

‘But those people were so boring!’ sighed Tony dramatically. ‘I would have had a harem of boredom! They were fun for a party, but other than that they had nothing interesting going on. I’m glad I could get rid of them.’

‘You’re an idiot.’

‘I am!’ agreed the billionaire. ‘But it wouldn’t be fun otherwise. Come on, I have this seriously stupid movie and we have to watch it.’

 

~

 

That night it wasn’t Steve, but Tony who had trouble sleeping. Falling asleep wasn’t difficult, it had been a long and tiresome day, so he slept within minutes after he lay his head down on the pillow. But after two hours he started dreaming and Steve got out of bed to wake him up. The soldier walked to the side of the bed, but noticed Tony had rolled over all the way to the other side. He climbed on the bed and kneeled down next to the billionaire. He gently woke him up. Tony frowned after he woke up and he looked like he didn’t really know where he was, but he thanked Steve for waking him up, so the blond returned to his own matrass.

He lay down, pulled the blankets over his body and found a nice spot. Just a second after he found it the bracelet started vibrating again. Steve resisted the urge to sigh. Apparently Tony hadn’t really been awake. He got out of bed again and went to Tony. He felt like kicking himself when he stood on the wrong side of the bed again, but he kneeled down on it again and shook the billionaire awake.

‘Tony, wake up, everything is fine,’ he said softly. ‘Do you know where you are? Do you know who I am?’

‘I’m home,’ said Tony. ‘And you’re Steve.’

‘Okay, everything is alright. You were dreaming,’ said Steve.

He watched how the other man nodded that he understood, but he turned around and was immediately asleep again. Steve decided not to go back to his own bed just yet. He didn’t want to get out again the moment he got in. So he lay down on the other side of the bed and watched Tony for a minute. He pulled the blankets over his legs, because the room was freezing. Tony was still restless, mumbling softly in his sleep. Steve felt the bracelet was still vibrating a little, but it wasn’t so bad anymore. Before he knew it he fell asleep himself and neither of them dreamed anymore that night.

The next morning Tony woke himself up when he hit something with his arm. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He was curled up against a warm, broad chest. He couldn’t remember anything, but at least the chest was clothed. He moved backwards a little and noticed it was Steve, who was just waking up himself. When he saw Tony his eyes widened.

‘I’m sorry!’ said the genius as he backed away even more. ‘Apparently I’m drawn to warm things when I sleep!’ he apologized. 

‘No, it’s my fault,’ said Steve. ‘I had to wake you twice in a few minutes and you were restless, so I decided to wait and see if you wouldn’t start dreaming again. I guess I fell asleep.’

‘And I thought I slept better than I did in a long time,’ grinned Tony. ‘But now I understand. Being held by such strong arms makes a person feel safe! No, but no kidding, I really did sleep very well last night.’

‘Me too,’ answered Steve. ‘You have a very comfortable bed.’

‘You are very welcome to join me again tonight,’ Tony said as he sat up. ‘No kidding there either.’

‘What if the bracelet will start vibrating because you have another sort of dream that makes your heart speed up,’ joked Steve .

Tony laughed. ‘Then just wake me up and do something about it.’

They got out of bed, got dressed and had breakfast. Steve announced that he had to go home. Tony told him he could stay, but Steve thought it would be better if he could spend some time on his own, to get back to drawing. It was the only way he earned some money and if he wouldn’t draw, he wouldn’t get any money for sure.

‘What kind of things do you draw?’ asked Tony.

‘Anything, whatever draws my attention,’ answered Steve. ‘Or whatever is asked. I once made drawing for a children’s book.’

‘Then can you draw Stark Tower for me?’ asked the billionaire. ‘I want to give you money, but I know you’re not the kind of guy that will just take it, you want to do something in return. So make me something big that I can put in my office?’

‘I’ll give it a try,’ smiled Steve. ‘It might take a few days, but I have nothing else to draw anyway. See you tonight.’

 

~

 

Steve sat down at a table of a small café. From there he had perfect view on Stark Tower and he had the perfect angle to draw it. He was studying the lines of the building when a blond waitress came to his table to take his order.

‘Are you waiting for Tony Stark to come out?’ she asked when she noticed him looking.

Steve raised his eyebrow at that. ‘No, why would I?’ he asked.

‘A lot of people want to see him, take a picture of him or talk to him and a lot of them are waiting here to see if he is coming out of the door. It hardly happens anymore these days, you only see fancy cars getting in and out. So if you’re waiting to see him too, I’ll have to disappoint you.’

It amused Steve that people actually waited outside for Tony to show up, but at the same time it pissed him off. Why couldn’t people just leave him alone?

‘No, I’m not here for mister Stark,’ he said. ‘I want to draw the building.’

‘Oh,’ said the waitress a bit surprised. ‘The big, ugly…’

‘Yes, exactly, that building,’ said Steve, cutting her off. ‘I’d like a coffee please. Black, no sugar.’

‘Of course, I’ll be right back,’ she said and disappeared inside.

Steve pulled his coat a little tighter around himself. He should have just made a few pictures instead of going outside to draw. It was just too cold. He would just do a few sketches and back at home he would make a bigger version. Where nobody would disturb him. He started sketching. He drew the outer lines and made a few more detailed sketches. He sipped his coffee in between.

He loved drawing. It was something he had always done and it calmed him down. He could get lost in a different world when he was drawing. Before he knew it he was sitting there for almost two hours. His fingers were half frozen, but he felt good.

‘Wow, that looks so much alike!’ said a voice behind him. It was the waitress again. ‘Would you like some more coffee. It’s so cold outside!’

‘No, it’s fine,’ said Steve and he paid for his coffee. ‘I’ll be going anyway.’

He took his stuff and went home. He took his sketches and started working things out on a way bigger piece of paper. He started his computer up and searched for some pictures of Stark Tower on the internet. He kept everything close as he tried to put every detail on paper. It was a big ugly building, but it was something Tony had designed. Every part was there for a reason.

Steve enjoyed drawing the tower. He drew some buildings around it, cars and trees and people, but everything was a bit blurred compared to the tower. When the doorbell rang he woke up from his drawing dream. He checked the clock and his eyes widened when he noticed it was almost nine already. He quickly went to open the door.

‘Hi,’ said Tony. ‘You didn’t come and you didn’t pick up the phone.’

‘I’m so sorry, I completely forgot about the time,’ Steve apologized.

‘I’m glad,’ smiled Tony. ‘For a moment I thought I scared you off with what happened this morning, so I brought food. To make up for it.’

‘I wouldn’t be a gay guy if I couldn’t handle a good looking man curling up by my side in bed,’ answered Steve as he let the billionaire in. ‘But I hope you brought a lot, because I might have forgotten about lunch as well.’

‘I have a terrible influence on you,’ sighed Tony. ‘What were you doing that you forgot about lunch and could not pick up your phone?’

Steve let Tony in and brought him to the living room. Tony gasped. He quickly put the plastic bag with food on the table and walked to the drawing.

‘That is amazing!’ he said. ‘And that in only a few hours! It’s perfect!’

‘I’m not done yet though,’ said Steve. ‘You can’t take it yet, I’ll finish it tomorrow.’

‘Is that why you sat at the café for such a long time?’ asked the billionaire. ‘To draw this?’

‘I was making sketches,’ answered Steve, but then he wondered how his friend could know he had been there. ‘Are you spying on me?’ 

‘I might be!’ sang Tony as he grinned at the soldier. ‘That blond waitress was flirting with you, but all you did was draw!’

‘She was flirting with me?’ Steve asked.

‘I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she kept looking at you and she walked to your table a few times to get your attention, but you were too focused on something else.’

‘How do you know?!’

‘I was bored, I looked out of the window and I recognized you,’ defended Tony his actions. ‘Suddenly you were gone and when I called you, you didn’t pick up. Which reminds me, food!’

He took the plastic bag and took out some take out. He handed one box to Steve and took the other one himself. He plopped down on the couch, feeling at home, and started eating.

‘Shall I sleep here tonight?’ asked Tony. ‘You have to travel to Manhattan all the time while you don’t have much money. I’ll be the one travelling today.’

‘I don’t have an extra bed,’ answered Steve before taking a bit from his Chinese food.

‘We slept in one bed last night, we just do that again.’

‘I don’t have a very big bed,’ Steve said. ‘About half of your bed.’

‘Works for me,’ answered Tony simply. ‘I brought the bracelets. We don’t have J.A.R.V.I.S., but we don’t need his help very often anyway.’

So a few hours later they were together in the small bed. Tony was wearing Steve’s pyjamas that were way too big on him. He asked on which side Steve normally slept and took the other side for himself. When the broad soldier joined him there was not even half a meter in between them. Steve didn’t really dare to move, afraid that he would crush the other man or something. But he just couldn’t sleep and hearing Tony’s breathing the other man was still awake as well.

Both of them turned around at the same time and their noses almost touched. Tony started laughing, muttered something about being ridiculous and curled himself up against Steve’s chest like he had done the night before. For a moment Steve blushed and he was glad Tony couldn’t see it, but then he put one arm around the other man and closed his eyes.

Neither of them had any nightmares that night. 

~

Pepper called Tony out of bed the next morning. The billionaire apologized, but told his CEO that he slept so well that he didn't wake up any earlier. She could forgive him, but wanted him to come over immediately anyway. Tony moaned that he was sleeping so nicely, but Steve simply kicked him out of the bed.

'Traitor,' whined Tony.

'You do your job,' said Steve. 'And I'll finish the drawing for you. I'll bring it over tonight and then we can sleep again.'

'You look forward to sleeping again as well,' grinned Tony.

'I do,' laughed Steve. 'Didn't sleep so nice in years. Your comfortable bed again tonight.'

'Stop talking about beds and sleeping,' moaned Tony. 'I'm going to use your shower.' He disappeared into the bathroom and a few moments later Steve heard the billionaire bump against the wall and with a grin he got out of bed and grabbed a towel from the closet. He put the towel in the bathroom.

'It's not as big here as it is in your bathroom,' said the artist before he left again. 

Half an hour later the billionaire left with breakfast. Steve ate his breakfast at the kitchen table before he want to work. Within a few more hours he finished the drawing, then he noticed he was still in his pyjamas. He had been so eager to finish the artwork. He had been drawing, but it had been a long time since he actually enjoyed it as much as he did now. He wanted to show it to Tony, so he quickly took a shower and got dressed. He rolled up the drawing carefully and put an elastic band around it before he made his way to Stark Tower.

When he arrived there he remembered that Tony was working. He thought about going to the café close by to have some coffee and wait for his friend to come home, but decided against it. He didn’t really want to have the waitress flirt with him again, he didn’t like saying he wasn’t interested. So he rang the doorbell and was surprised when the door actually opened for him.

‘Welcome mister Rogers,’ said J.A.R.V.I.S.. ‘I’m afraid sir isn’t home yet, but you can wait upstairs if you want. I will let him know you’re here.’

‘No need!’ said Steve. ‘I’ll wait. No need to disturb him.’

He unrolled his drawing and placed it on the table in the living room, so it wouldn’t get damaged. He walked to the bookshelf and grabbed one of the books. They looked like none of them had been read, and knowing Tony, he never touched them ever. They were there just for show. Steve liked to read, so he made himself comfortable on the couch with a cup of tea and started reading. It was a story about a couple and it started with how nice and lovely their life was.

Steve took a sip from his tea and looked around. Suddenly he felt stupid. Here he was at the house of a billionaire, sitting in the living room, waiting for him like they were lovers. They knew each other’s biggest secrets, but they still only knew each other for a week. He had spent so much in this house the past week that he already felt at home, but now he felt like he was intruding. What if Tony brought his CEO back home. She was a lovely lady and maybe now that he could sleep again they would get back together. It would make sense.

‘J.A.R.V.I.S.?’ asked Steve. ‘Could you please let Tony know I’m here, but tell him he doesn’t have to come home early. He should just finish his work and come back after. I found a book to read, so I’ll be fine.’

‘Of course, mister Rogers,’ said the AI.

At least Tony would know about it now and it would be less awkward when the man would come home. Steve took the book again and continued reading, but he couldn’t get into the story. It wasn’t a bad book, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Tony couldn’t bring home a lover if he would stay and sleep over every time. They had to find another way.

Suddenly Steve felt the urge to go for a jog. He hadn't worked out the entire week, but now he wanted to. He craved it, so he went to the gym. His clothes were still there from last time, washed and folded neatly. He changed and went crazy on the punching bag. After one and a half hour he felt a lot better.

He took another shower, and reminded himself to work out before taking a shower next time, before he went back to the living room. He took another book and sat down again. He felt a lot better. When Tony got home he could smile again.

'Now that is a sight I can get used to!' grinned the billionaire. 'A hot man on my couch. And... You finished it!'

Happy as a child Tony walked to the table and looked at the piece of art. 

'It's amazing!' he said. 'I love it. It looks so much like the real thing! I'll make sure you get your money tomorrow. This is the best Pepper will love it too, she keeps nagging me to put up some proper art.'

Tony put the drawing down carefully again. He turned to Steve with a bright smile. 'Everyone who will see it will ask where it comes from and I'll give them your name and you'll get more and more jobs! It's.... what is wrong?'

Nothing,' said the artist surprised. He was pretty sure he had been smiling. 'Why would something be wrong?'

'Don't lie to me, Steve,' sighed Tony as he sat down and took Steve's hands in his. 'Your hands had healed, but now your knuckles are open again. Something must be up that made you go wild on a punching bag. You had to get something out of your system.'

'I thought that now we know how you can sleep, you can go back to your girlfriend and be happy together,' answered the blond. 'She can help you.'

'Pepper?' asked Tony. 'Me not sleeping wasn't the only reason we broke up. In the end she and I were fighting about everything. We couldn't even work properly together anymore. So don't you dare thinking about going anywhere, because you are not leaving my bed anytime soon.'  
When he realized what he said he quickly apologized, but Steve laughed about it. Those few words had lifted the weight from his heart.

'Sure, mister Stark, but you better treat me properly, because if not you'll end up all alone in the big, cold bed. Be gentle with me,' joked the blond.

'If you keep up the act of an innocent virgin I'm going to sexually harass you!' grinned Tony.

'I'd like to see you try!' answered Steve.

'Oh, you're gonna get it!'

Tony wanted to launch himself onto the other man, but at that moment J.A.R.V.I.S. announced that dinner was ready.

'Cock blocking robot,' the billionaire tried to insult his AI.

The rest of the evening the kept joking and that night Steve needed to be woken up only once.

~

Steve got an insane amount of money for his art. He tried to give some back to Tony, but the billionaire refused. There was nothing the blond could do to change his mind and on the day Tony put it in his office he got a request from a client for a piece from the same artist.

Steve got more busy, but still came over to Tony's place for dinner every evening. Neither of them enjoyed eating alone and they would spend their nights together anyway.

In those two weeks they spend more time in bed than they had done in the month before they met. They had finally found a proper day and night rhythm. The dreams came less often. They weren't gone, now and then it still happened, but they could quickly help each other and they were no longer afraid to close their eyes.

It was getting colder, winter was coming, so neither of the men really minded the extra warmth in their bed. They were used to the extra body in the bed. 

Steve woke up as he felt his bracelet vibrating. He opened his eyes and looked at Tony, who had his face buried in Steve’s neck. The artist moved away from him a little. The billionaire didn’t sweat, he wasn’t panting and he wasn’t talking in his sleep. Whenever he had a nightmare one or more of those things happened, but Steve did feel the vibrating clearly. He decided to wake Tony anyway. If it was a nightmare he should wake up, before anybody died.

So Steve gently shook his shoulders, but Tony didn’t wake up, instead he tried to crawl closer to the big blond man again. Steve held him at distance and tried to wake him up. He started talking to his rich friend and he was less gentle with the shaking.

When Tony let out a soft moan Steve let go immediately. That wasn’t a moan of pain or misery. Steve moved back a little further. What to do, what to do, what to do?! Tony still wasn’t awake. Carefully Steve reached out again. It was better to wake him up. He didn’t want Tony to soil his pants and crawl against him again.

‘Tony, come on, wake up! This isn’t funny anymore,’ hissed Steve as he shook the billionaire again. When there was still no response Steve pinched his arm.

Tony’s eyes snapped open. ’What the hell?!’ did he say with a hoarse voice.

‘You were dreaming and you wouldn’t wake up,’ answered the artist.

‘Maybe because I didn’t want to wake up,’ murmured Tony.

‘You were having a sex dream next to me!’ said Steve. ‘I didn’t like that idea. And the bracelet kept vibrating.’

‘You don’t like to feel left out?’ grinned Tony, much more awake now. ‘Because you could have done some interesting things with the vibrating jewellery. You should have used your imagination.’

‘No thank you,’ answered the blond. ‘Your bracelet would have started vibrating too and I wouldn’t hear the end of it if you would catch me pleasuring myself with a vibrating bracelet.’

Tony laughed. ‘True!’ he said. ‘But it would have been a kinky thing to wake up to.’

‘Whatever, I just want to go back to sleep. So if you’re…. go to the bathroom and take a cold shower or something. I don’t like to get poked in my sleep.’

‘Awww,’ said Tony disappointed. ‘Guess I’ll go to the bathroom then. You were a lot lovelier in my dream.’

Steve knew Tony was only teasing him, like he always was, so he didn’t reply, but his body betrayed him. With a wide grin Tony moved closer to him.

‘My bracelet is vibrating. Do you have a nightmare or do you think it’s exciting that I dreamed about you? I could tell you what we were doing in my dream. It was amazing. You were amazing. Oh, feels like you are interested,’ said Tony as he held his arm with the bracelet in the air. ‘It’s going faster.’

‘Stop teasing me,’ said Steve.

‘I’m not teasing,’ answered Tony. ‘I never dream like this about people I don’t like. If it’s any comfort to you, I never dreamed about Pepper. Not like this. And now I’m kind of curious if I really can take your entire dick in my mouth.’

‘You can’t,’ answered the artist.

‘Do I hear a challenge? We’ll never know if we don’t try!’ 

Steve groaned, turned to face the brunette, pulled him close and started kissing him. Tony was surprised, but didn’t waste any time and started kissing back. Their tongues met and their arms wrapped around each other. Their legs got tangled up and the blankets were sliding down onto the floor. They parted when they needed air.

‘You said you don’t like to be poked,’ grinned Tony. ‘But you don’t seem to have any problems with poking someone yourself.’

Steve pulled his hips backwards, but the billionaire grabbed them and stopped him. ‘I never said I minded being poked. Besides, you challenged me, so don’t move away from me, I need that.’

‘No, Tony, wait,’ said Steve as he grabbed Tony’s wrists. ‘Are you sure about this? You’re not doing this because you’re just horny, do you?’

‘I don’t suck dick because I’m horny, sweetheart,’ answered the genius. He tried to free his wrists, but Steve’s grip was way too strong. ‘I do so because I want to. Because I want you to feel good. So let me?’

‘Alright,’ answered Steve. ‘Do it.’

‘J.A.R.V.I.S. lights at 15 per cent,’ said Tony. It would make things easier if he could actually see what he was doing. He found the elastic band of Steve’s pyjamas. He pulled it off and the underwear followed immediately. ‘Okay, that is going to be a challenge indeed. I should have known. Everything is great about you.’

‘You won’t know if you don’t try!’ said the artist, using Tony’s words against him.

The genius licked his lips and kneeled down between Steve’s legs. He bend forward, didn’t hesitate. He took the tip of Steve’s cock in his mouth and sucked gently. He took in a little more before letting it slip out again. He kissed the tip before licking his way down to Steve’s balls. He sucked them both gently before licking his way to the top again. He made sure to make everything nice and wet before he placed his lips around the tip again.

Tony took as much in his mouth as he could before his gag reflex kicked in. It had been a while since he had done this and he thought he wasn’t doing a very good job, but Steve was moaning softly and encouraging Tony to give him more. The genius tried to relax his muscles and took in a bit more. He breathed steadily and moved slowly until the erection hit the back of his throat. That was as far as he could, but the hands that were tugging his hair told him it was far enough.

He started bobbing his head up and down, taking as much as he could every time. He hummed softly and sucked every time he reached the tip. He wrapped his fingers around the parts he couldn’t take in his mouth and started moving his fingers in time with his mouth. He moved his other hand to Steve’s balls and started playing with them, teasing him a little. After he got a few frustrated moans he took mercy and moved his fingers a little lower and gently massaged the ring of muscles.

Steve cried out and thrust his hips up. He hadn’t expected that. Tony’s hand immediately disappeared to steady Steve’s hips, or he would choke on that big cock. Steve apologized, but Tony waved his words away, not stopping with the things he was doing. He put his hand on Steve’s thigh and slowly caressed Steve’s skin. His fingers moved towards the little entrance again, but this time the blond man was prepared.

Tony carefully pushed his finger inside a little. He knew his fingers were dry and he didn’t want to hurt the other man. But Steve cried out again. He pushed his hips to meet that finger and to take it deeper, but before he could take more, Tony gently used his teeth before sucking with more force than before. And Steve came. He had no time to warn the brunette, his hips kept thrusting up and Tony used his hand to milk him dry.

Steve was panting and it took him a minute before he could speak again.

‘You couldn’t do it,’ he said. ‘But that was amazing anyway.’

‘No, you’re just too big, my hot boy,’ grinned Tony. ‘But I found out something interesting. You like having fingers inside of you. You bottom, don’t you?’

Steve nodded. ‘Yeah, I tried both, but I like bottom better.’

‘Oh God, you’re going to be the death of me! Can you get more perfect than that? Big, hot, gorgeous blond man and he prefers to bottom! So are you any good at blow jobs, because things are starting to hurt down there. A hand job is fine too, whatever you want.’

‘When you’re in the army a blow job is a nice way to pleasure each other without having to get completely naked, so I learned a thing or two,’ answered Steve. He took off Tony’s pants and started to return the favour.

 

~

'I haven't heard anything from the two of you in weeks,' said the psychologist. 'But I must say you both look a lot better than last time we met. I assume you figured out a way to sleep without getting tortured by nightmares.'

'We have, but not thanks to you,' answered Tony. He hadn't bothered to take his sunglasses off, so he knew the other man was lying about him looking better. How could he see? But Steve surely looked better. The dark circles under his eyes were gone and his skin had more colour. He no longer looked like a zombie.

'Can you tell me what it is that makes you fall asleep now? What did you try, what did you change? It might be useful for future patients.'

'You need someone you trust,' said Steve.

'You need someone to suck your dick,' said Tony.

'Excuse me?' asked the psychologist confused.

'Exactly as I said,' answered Tony. He peeked over his sunglasses. 'I sleep better with someone next to me who is willing to suck my dick. Someone I like, someone I trust and someone who I can curl up against, but who is also willing to jerk me off.'

The psychologist blushed. 'So, I assume you and your girlfriend worked things out. I'm glad to hear that, congratulations.'

'Like hell I did,' snorted Tony. 'I found someone way better. Not just better blow jobs, better everything. He is amazing. Finally someone who can keep up with me and my stupid problems.'

'I'm glad to hear that,' answered the other man. 'I'm glad you are happy. May I ask where you found this amazing person so suddenly?'

'When I ran out of your office a few weeks ago I took him for coffee and things worked out.' Tony grinned at Steve. The blond grinned back.

'Steve?' asked the psychologist. 'You are dating mister Stark? I didn't think he would be your type, but I'm happy you found love again. I'm glad I could help the two of you. My method of letting the two of your talk to each other about your problems worked.'

'You only introduced us,' answered the artist. 'Everything else we came up with comes from me and Tony. You had nothing to do with it, so don't put this on your list of victories.'

'You understand now why we work out?' asked Tony. 'Isn't he the best? I'm keeping him and I'm dropping you. We only agreed to come to tell you we are doing fine and to let you know we're not coming back. And you will not tell a soul about our problems or our relationship, because you'll be in trouble if you do.'

'But I...' started the doctor.

'No buts!' said Tony. 'We're leaving. Thank you for introducing us. Come on, honey, let's get some coffee.'


End file.
